Dario Salvi

Today's headlines: truce in Gaza and two-state solution at the Vatican meeting between Pope Leo and Abbas. Pyongyang launched a ballistic missile off the east coast. A hundred Indonesian activists protest against the granting of national hero status to former President Suharto. The area under opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan is reduced by a further 20%. In 2024, over 53,000 people killed by pollution in Iran.

According to a report, at least 600 workers have been without a salary for months. Those who protested were arrested and detained, then released. The "actual number" of those who are not paid "could be significantly higher", expert said. A source: "We didn't know that calling for a strike was a crime. They accused us of trying to overthrow the state.”

Today’s News: In the Philippines, more than 140 dead and 127 missing after Typhoon Kalmaegi; Marcos declares a state of emergency. The wife of Malaysian pastor Raymond Koh, kidnapped and missing since 2017, wins lawsuit against the government. Kathmandu and Delhi to build three major cross-border connection lines. Afghans in the north appeal to the Taliban for the reconstruction of the Blue Mosque damaged by the earthquake.

Today's headlines: over 90 dead and 400,000 displaced by Typhoon Kalmaegi in the Philippines; Japan deploys army to hunt bears, at least 12 dead since April; In Iran, medical treatment denied to a Christian convert imprisoned for her faith; Beijing has sentenced five people linked to a gang of cross-border fraudsters in Myanmar to death; Kerala is the first Indian state to declare itself “free” from “extreme poverty”.

At least nine people have died in two separate incidents in just a few days. For local sources, “it will take time” to recover some of the bodies due to weather conditions. Weather phenomena like cyclones are increasing the risk of avalanches. Changes in snowpack stability, greater precipitation, and accelerated glacier melting are the main dangers.

It was launched by educator and activist Jina Achji, who wanted to “offer a space” capable of bringing together and uniting “all communities”. The idea took its first steps in Aleppo in 2012 and has now spread to Hama and Homs. The invitation is to live ‘the present and reality’ by putting aside the ‘lost dream [...] for an imaginary land’.

Today's headlines: Pyongyang pays tribute to Kim Yong Nam, former “head of state” who died yesterday at the age of 97; Beijing leads campaign of harassment and intimidation against Sheffield Hallam University for “sensitive” research on the Uyghurs; Bangkok and Phnom Penh begin “demilitarising”disputed border;Thirty per cent of Iran's population lives in “absolute poverty”.

Syria's Assad regime was considered the narco-state par excellence, but its fall has led to a spread of production on a regional scale. Constant demand and growing distribution fuel trafficking. Among the new production centres is Yemen, home to the Houthi rebels. Today, the heart of production takes place in small laboratories scattered throughout various countries.

The compound has been at the centre of an ongoing battle between his children over its fate. The father had called for its demolition or closure to the public. The government stresses its "historic merit”, which make it “worthy”" of preservation. Still, its future remains uncertain. The meetings that led to the founding of the People's Action Party in 1959 were held in the basement.

Today's headlines: Hamas has handed over the bodies of three more deceased hostages and Israel has confirmed their identities; Beijing has expelled two more former senior Communist Party officials for corruption; Baghdad has signed an agreement with Ankara for the construction of water infrastructure: According to a report, nearly 300 people were killed in the summer of 2024 in the violence that led to the fall of former Prime Minister Hasina.

Members of the Sudanese diaspora call for action against the UAE for supporting the Rapid Support Forces, a rebel group accused of atrocities after it captured El Fasher, where more than 2,000 people, including women and children, were killed. The Gulf state denies responsibility and announces $100 million in humanitarian aid.

The Jordanian scholar spoke to AsiaNews about the critical issues that have emerged after the "easier" step of getting the “living hostages” back to Israel. In fact, Hamas refuses to surrender its weapons, and the establishment of an international force to monitor the truce is stalled. Overcoming the “pattern of regional conflicts and tensions” is needed to create a “future of peace on a cultural, as well as economic basis.”